Great Texts of the Western Tradition
Wisdom to Change Your Life
Study foundational works of literature, theology, and philosophy in small, seminar-style classes. Students consider the messy questions that contemporary disciplines often set aside, exploring the connections between what we know, how we live, and what we enjoy.
Why Choose Great Texts
The Great Texts of the Western Tradition major invites intellectually curious students to engage deeply with classic works of literature, philosophy, theology, politics, and the arts. Through small, discussion-based seminars, students explore enduring questions while preparing for careers in law, medicine, ministry, academia, and beyond. This interdisciplinary approach fosters critical thinking, moral imagination, and a love of learning.
"Great Texts is one of the few places I found at Baylor that asks the hard questions about God, about the self, and about the world. Our professors guided us through texts, which remind us that we are not the first people to ask these questions. Being a part of this program showed me that I am not in my own moment. We are inheriting and inhabiting an existing tradition."
Great Texts News
Before she began working with patients as an occupational therapy doctoral candidate, Baylor alumna Ella Pursley, B.A. ’24 was learning how to think deeply about the human condition.
As a student in the Honors College’s Great Texts of the Western Tradition program, Pursley spent her undergraduate years immersed in the writings of Aristotle, Augustine, Boethius, and C.S. Lewis. Today, as she prepares for a career in occupational therapy, she finds herself returning to many of those same ideas in clinical settings centered on healing, suffering, and human flourishing.
A semester at Baylor’s Honors College is helping Denise Vasiliu, Ph.D., a Fulbright Visiting Scholar from Romania, bring new ideas about interdisciplinary education and Christian scholarship back to students in Eastern Europe.
Vasiliu came to Baylor this spring under the sponsorship of Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives Scott Moore, Ph.D. During her time in Waco, she has spent her days reading, writing and participating in the life of the Great Texts program while researching the thought of Iris Murdoch and the relationship between literature, philosophy, and theology.
Baylor University’s Michael P. Foley, Ph.D., has researched many forgotten Christmas customs and folklore, including the darker – and eerier – side of Christmas.
The Honors College is thrilled to welcome Kirsten Welch, Ph.D., as Assistant Professor of Philosophy in Great Texts. An Honors College alumna, Welch (B.A. ’14), brings her scholarship in philosophy and education back to the community that first inspired her.